Monday, 19 November 2012

Boots strikes again! Honestly, I need to avoid that shop as much as I can as I ALWAYS find things to buy in there, whether they are needed or not.

This time, I thought I'd take advantage of the 2 for 1 offer and try out some of the make up from the Soap and Glory makeup range. As I'm more than a little obsessed with eye makeup the products I thought I would road test are:

1. The Daily Double (All-day colour lidshadow and liner pencil) I got this product in two colours, the Velvet Pink/Brownie and Fresh Cream/Green Light.

I really like these double ended pencils, they are nice and chunky and the consistency of the product is smooth and once set doesn't shift. I found that the lighter colour on both pencils works best with a little bit of nude eyeshadow brushed on top. The colours can be blended but you have to move fast as once set the makeup is on until you wash it off. I think that these pencils are perfect for everyday wear.

The darker shade on this double sided pencil (Soap and Glory do like their double sided pencils) has a chalky consistency that you can use to shape your eyebrows. I have a small bald patch on one of my eyebrows because of childhood chicken pox and have to 'colour' my eyebrow in. This product is a little hard going to put on and scratches and pulls on your skin when you apply it. Compared to the No.7 brow pencil that I currently use, the Soap and Glory pencil definitely takes longer to put on but, because of this you do have a little more control. It all depends on how much patience you have.

The highlighter on the other side of the pencil is a lovely shade and is really easy to blend and 'clean up' your brow. It looks scary bright when you first put it on, but a little goes a long way and once blended it really merges with the skin so that your brows look freshly 'done'.

This palette is the star product of all the bits I bought. Although the packaging is a little too chunky for my liking and the lid feels like its going to break off, the eyeshadows themselves are lovely. The texture is lovely and smooth and the pigments are really strong and perfect for a nude finish. Apart from Aubersheen the eyeshadows are matt, which I really like as it means that when I wear this with liquid eyeliner I can get a really clean line.

Saturday, 17 November 2012

I had such high hopes for the new Bourgois Queen Attitude range, I bought the mascara and khol kajal eyeliner expecting dark strong pigments and good staying power. Unfortunately this wasn't what I got.

1. Bourgois Queen Attitude Mascara in noir: The main problem with this product is the brush, it hurts! Now, I've been applying mascara for years with all sorts of different brushes and this is the first one where I can feel the bristles scratching my eyes. Another issue is that the product itself is clumpy, something you don't expect from a newly opened mascara. The colour itself is a nice true black, none of that grey finish that you sometimes get and the mascara did manage to hold up my eyelashes a little. However the finish wasn't even and I found it quite awkward trying to get mascara on the eyelashes on the outside edge of my eye (as you can see from the third picture below).

2. Bourgois Queen Attitude Khol Kajal Eyeliner: I think the packaging of this product is lovely, I like the old school Khol design and I had visions of it being like the khol eyeliners my mum used to use back in the 70's. However, this khol eyeliners is not highly pigmented, it smudges, won't set and the worse thing about it is that it melts. I tried it on 2 days running and on both days I ended up with panda bear eyes. Unlike a lot of proper khol eyeliners this product has no staying power on your water line and rather than getting a good amount of colour on one sweep, you have to go back over your eyeliner a few times to get an almost satisfactory colour. Such a let down!

Overall:

Upheld Promise: 1/5 - literally only because of the true black shade of the mascara.

Friday, 16 November 2012

The November '12 Stocking Filler Glossybox is supposed to serve as a Christmas gift guide. Unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed in the November box as I received another sample of Olay Regenerist 3-Point Treatment Cream which I received in the October Glossybox. Also, I'm not sure that I know anyone who would want this as a stocking filler. (Whilst writing this blog article I received an email from Glossybox with an apology for sending the Olay cream again and I've been told that an extra item will be added to my December Glossybox which is great news!)

November 2012 Glossybox

Other items in this month's box are:

1. Wei Beauty Jujbe Age Control Serum - this is an all in one anti-aging serum and is meant to restore suppleness and elasticity. This is a product that I'm probably going to pass on to my mum. I had a quick sniff and the smell isn't as pleasant as some other creams but the texture of the serum is nice.

2. Alison Claire Natural Beauty Mango Body Butter - The packaging of this product is lovely, I like the pump and the way it looks, I also like the texture of the cream which sinks into the skin really quickly and doesn't feel greasy at all. The only downer on this product is the smell, its just too fruity for me and reminds me of Body Shop body creams which hover around in your nose all day. Personally, I don't like highly scented body creams as I like my perfumes to stand out, but I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't mind smelling fruity!

3. Nails Inc Kensington Cavier Top Coat - I love this nail varnish so I can't complain. I've used it for years and I like the fact that its quick drying and the Nails Inc brushes are a breeze to use as well.

4. Dermalogica Daily Micofoliant - a rice based powder that you mix with water and exfoliate you face with. I've used this in the past and had forgotten about it, when I did use it some years ago I really liked it so I'm happy to be reminded of this product and I'm looking forward to using it again.

Tuesday, 13 November 2012

I love sushi, I love sushi, I love sushi. Enough said! A friend was recommended Nizuni and as she found a 30% off deal we thought that it was time to try it.

I'll let the pictures (sorry they are a little dark) do the talking for this review, suffice to say we loved the sushi, the service was a little haphazard but for an affordable sushi restaurant we would go back in a shot. The fish was amazing and you HAVE to try the Ika Karaage (squid with wasabi mayo sauce, its amazing)

Monday, 12 November 2012

Boots is such a dangerous shop for me to go into that I try not to go in unless I know that I have things to buy. The amount of times I've gone into a store to buy a bottle of water and come out with £50 worth of shopping is crazy.

For this trip I needed to get some hair dye and some deodorant and £48.87 later I left with a lot more than what was needed! Oops, I blame their Multi-Save offers which always draw me in like a magnet, this time it was buy 1 and get one half price!

1. Garnier Olia Permanent Hair Colour in 4.15 Iced Chocolate - £6.99
The advert for this hair dye is annoying, so long and it seems to be on the TV all the time. However, I have to say that this hair dye is amazing. I bought it in 3.0 Soft Black last time and the colour was a little too dark for me, however my hair feels amazing and I've had loads of compliments on how healthy it looks. The dye has natural flower oils in it as well as the usual dye bumpf, however it doesn't have any ammonia in it and covers my nasty greys really well. The conditioner that comes with the hair dye is really nice as well and there is enough for at least 3/4 applications.

I went for a lighter shade this time and look forward to seeing the results.

2. TRESemme Texture Style Tousled Wave Spray - £5.50
This product is meant to create high definition waves in an random and undone way! I've seen a few blog posts about this new TRESemme texture range and most of the feedback has been positive so I'm looking forward to giving this a go.

3. Rimmel Glam Eyes Eyeshadow in 100 Glam Ice - £4.49
I bought this to replace a similar eye shadow from Maybelline which doesn't appear to be available anymore. The colour I chose is a slightly shimmery off white and I use this on my brow to help define my brow line a little. I always mix it with a nude eye shadow to make sure that it doesn't look clowny!

4. Maybelline New York Fit Me! in 220 Natural Beige - £7.19
This is Maybelline's first foray into the world of gel foundations. I'm a big fan of gel foundations after trying Bourjois' Healthy Mix Serum Foundation, they tend to glide on a lot easier and have a more natural finish. The only thing is that you have to wait for the foundation to set for a short minute, but I don't find this to be a problem as it gives me time to spread it really thinly. The packaging for the Fit Me! foundation is much nicer than the Bourjois version which started to leak all over the place and is annoying as you get bits of foundation everywhere. The actual foundation feels very light on, blends in like a dream and the finish is very natural.

5 + 6. Bourjois Queen Attitude Mascara in Noir - £9.49 Khol Kajal - £6.99
The mascara is a volumising and lengthening mascara with a brush that is supposed to help you get a good sideways sweep.. I haven't used Bourjois mascaras for a while as I really love the Maybelline Volum' Express Lift-Up Volume & Lift Mascara which gives my eyelashes a really good lift, however I saw this new Bourjois mascara and thought it was worth a punt. First impressions are OK, I like the effect it gives me but disappointed that the brush collects a splodge of mascara at the end which means that you have to be careful how you apply it. The Maybelline brush is definitely better suited to my eyelashes which are quite long and thick but straight.

The Khol Kajal is a very soft, paraben free eyeliner. Its great for a soft smudgy finish. I like the 'retro' design and found the kajal really easy to apply. The only downside is that it doesn't seem to 'set' so you might need to be careful about it smudging too much or melting.

7. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium 3 - £4.19
I don't think that I need to say much about this product. The concealer is amazing. The only issue I have is that I think that they need to bring out more shades for darker skin as it only comes in 4 colours and we all know that's just not enough to cater for everyone.

8. Maybelline New York Color Sensational in 540 Hollywood Red - £7.19
Now, this isn't a red lipstick as the name suggests, instead its a warm pink with a slight red tone that I love. The colour is true and doesn't smudge or bleed which is always a bonus.

9. Sure Long Lasting Protection in Linen Dry - £3.29
I only got this because it was half price (£1.64), no other reason at all!

10. Boots False Lashesin Natural Fan - £4.00
I'm lucky enough not to need false eyelashes as mine are pretty long and abundant. However, we have a 20's themed birthday party coming up and I figured these would work perfectly with my costume. I'm a bit nervous about putting them on as the idea of putting glue near my eye worries me, but as women up and down the country are doing it I'm sure that I will be fine :)